AEG shakeup could mean the end of Farmers Field

Posted by Mike Florio on March 14, 2013, 1:31 PM EDT

Getty Images

The stadium that had a naming-rights deal but no deal to build the stadium may never be a stadium.

According to SportsBusiness Daily, AEG chairman Philip Anschutz announced today that the company attempting to engineer the construction of a downtown L.A. NFL venue no longer is for sale, and that CEO Tim Leiweke will be leaving the organization.

It’s unclear what this means to the Farmers Field project, but Leiweke was spearheading the process. If AEG gets out of the NFL business, the process will be set back to square one.

Unless a team wants to play in a stadium built on Ed Roski’s land at in the City of Industry. And there’s no reason to believe any one wants to do that.

Good, whatever team moved to LA would have moved back out of LA within 10 years. I mean the Lakers have gone to the Finals in half (!!!) the last 25 years, and they’re one Clippers title away from losing half their fan base. LA is not a sports town, its a frontrunning town.

richkotitte says:Mar 14, 2013 1:39 PM

I guess it’s settled then, the Jags will be moving to London instead of L.A.

As an ardent football fan living in LA I have lots of friends that have been looking forward to seeing football return to Los Angeles despite the fact that Farmers Field would vastly increase a rough traffic situation. But I am unusual in that most LA peeps are just not that into the NFL. We have so many other interests beyond football and great weather that assures us that we can do a lot more on a Sunday than sit inside and watch TV. In short, NFL action in LA is a tough sell.

You got Oakland/SF/SD/Arizona all within a hour or so if you take a flight there.

granadafan says:Mar 14, 2013 2:14 PM

“ilovefoolsball says:Mar 14, 2013 1:49 PM
L.A. doesn’t deserve an NFL team. The people there may be cool but everyone is mostly just concerned with their own part of the world and there is little sense of community.”
================================================

You do realize that LA is a very large city with millions of people who have lived here for generations, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have made such an ignorant and completely uninformed statement.

joseffar says:
But I am unusual in that most LA peeps are just not that into the NFL. We have so many other interests beyond football and great weather that assures us that we can do a lot more on a Sunday than sit inside and watch TV. In short, NFL action in LA is a tough sell.

Then why does the NFL enjoy some of it’s largest viewing audiences in Los Angeles, and so many complain that if LA DOES get a team, that they won’t be able to watch their teams anymore?

I think the name Farmer Field killed it. Sounds like a dumping ground for serial killers.

kd75 says:Mar 14, 2013 2:30 PM

LA had its chance to support three NFL teams and didn’t. Chargers, Raiders and Rams all left. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting a different result.

Its been what 20 years since the Rams left town? There’s a whole generation of NFL fans in LA who have already picked their fav teams and I wouldn’t expect them to dump that team for a relocated or expansion team just because its in LA.

Besides a team in LA would completely screw up the current divisional alignment, which is pretty good right now.

jgrange says:Mar 14, 2013 2:33 PM

I would like the Raiders to move back to LA with a legitimate stadium deal – one in which helps them become a large market team to match their far ranging fanbase which is still very active across the globe even in down years. I’m biased but I think if the Raiders rebuild correctly as they seem to be doing then a larger market will make them an attractive draw and a very valuable asset for the state of California and the NFL, overall. Plus, every other fan seems to hate them and talk about them even when they aren’t relevant so they will go the games to spew their passion which is still money for everybody.

The problem is that I don’t think they can move without selling the team and I don’t think I want the Raiders out of Al Davis’s family’s hands so quickly as I value loyalty and tradition so I would like to see his son succeed wherever the team is located instead of trading it all in for excess.

Good. Who wanted to go to an NFL game where you couldn’t tailgate anyway?

XXXX

Dumbest thing ever, putting a football stadium downtown, plus, with no tailgate facilities.

rsd195502 says:Mar 14, 2013 2:37 PM

Wasn’t there some kind of grass roots effort (BBTLARAMS) or something like that. I think they even had a Facebook page (must have been 10 or 12 followers on the page and it looked like that Liewike (SP?) guy was even in some of the pictures). That’s a lot of pull isn’t it? Don’t you think the NFL sees stuff like that and is compelled to put a team back in LA? I asked earlier….so now what?

If the Rams aren’t going to move to Los Angeles, then they should be forced to play late games at home against opponents in the NFC West. It’s totally bogus to have teams play divisional road games at 10AM pacific time in St. Louis- two time zones away.

rsd195502 says:Mar 14, 2013 3:01 PM

Didn’t this article just state that AEG IS NO LONGER FOR SALE? How is Burkle going to buy a company that isn’t for sale?

Looks like the Raiders, Chargers, and Jags are all that’s left in play. The Dolphins probably won’t get their taxpayer money for upgrades, but I don’t see them leaving.

The options are getting pretty slim for possible candidates moving to Los Angeles, so it will be interesting to see how many games are blacked out in San Diego this year, how many tarps are in Jacksonville, and whether or not the Raiders will bit the bullet and work out a deal to rent space from the Niners in Santa Clara.

It’s all very interesting to watch, but my guess is 10 years from now, Los Angeles still won’t have a team.

Dont be hating on our Tarps. We intentionally built a stadium sooo large, that we had extra room to sell advertising on top of our extra seats. Yet we still have more seats than many NFL teams. Is that genius or what?!

whereyaat says:Mar 14, 2013 3:32 PM

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

-Signed,
CHARGERS FANS

==================
Not so fast. With L.A. out of the picture, it means that the Chargers will be even FARTHER away from San Diego when Spanos moves the team because he can’t get a taxpayer-built stadium.

And for all of those haters out there, when was the last time you saw an NBA game with full attendance in:
Detroit, Atlanta, Orlando, Houston, Seattle, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., New Orleans.

L.A. has had sellouts at Clippers games for years, even when they were turrible. The market could support an NFL team easily.

I used to think towns like Atlanta and Detroit were sports towns, but those fans are sooooooo fairweather, lol.

jeffrey723 says:Mar 14, 2013 3:43 PM

The Roski plan is the only one that makes sense for taxpayers, traffic, and tailgaters.

The AEG plan deserves to be boiled in poison oil. It’s millionaires on the LA city council giving away taxpayer money to richer millionaires. Nothing good will come of it and I’m happy to see it die.

As someone who lives a stone’s throw from the intersection of the 10 & 110 freeways, it’s just about the worst place imaginable for a football stadium. Plus LA has a proven track record of not being able to keep a team. Moving a new franchise here with the promise of filling 80,000 seats for the next 20 years is delusional.

I know, its still pretty strange to say. But at this point the Clippers are closer to a title than the Lakers. The overriding point remains. I mean right now I bet half of LA has taken down their Trojan car flags and replaced them with Bruin ones. Its about who’s hot now in LA.

As someone who lives a stone’s throw from the intersection of the 10 & 110 freeways, it’s just about the worst place imaginable for a football stadium.
=========================

Amen, brother. That is why I do not want to work/live near there. Traffic there is already a nightmare.

Could you imagine if the Dodgers, Lakers/Clippers, and the L.A. Chargers all had games on the same day? (Would have to happen in early November, I guess.) Toss in a UCLA or USC game and you could stall half of L.A.

arrowdead says:Mar 14, 2013 10:16 PM

tear down the entire area of La Brea and build a shrine to Deion Sanders